Stars Without Number: Core Edition

(NEW!Now that Mongoose Publishing has sold through the Stars Without Number print run, I've made available softcover and hardback copies through this site. All print copies contain the exact same expanded content you'll find in the Core Edition, with mechs, AIs, and planetary society construction guides included. If you buy your print copy from this page, you'll get it in the fighting alien cover. If you'd rather have the classic starfield cover, just order your print copy over here, at the Free Edition page.)

The expanded Core Edition of Stars Without Number is now available at your friendly local gaming store, a lustrous hardback volume from the presses of Mongoose Publishing. For those intrepid starfarers who scorn primitive "paper" technologies, we here at Sine Nomine offer you this fully bookmarked PDF. Inside, you'll find the full content of the free edition of Stars Without Number, plus more than forty pages of bonus material exclusive to the Core Edition.

Rules and historical information on AIs and robots, including AI player characters. Assemble your artificial heroes with a point-buy character creation system and an array of armature hulls for them to use. Included information covers non-sentient guard bots and expert systems as well!

Rules and the historical context for mechs ranging from almost human-sized powered suits to hulking heavy assault mechs to the enigmatic psychic war machines that were the ancient psimechs. Strap in for those special occasions that call for the really big guns. Nine sample mechs are included, along with a design system for creating your own.

Society creation guidelines and generation tables to help GMs flesh out their worlds with vibrant, living cultures and their ages-old conflicts. Every culture comes with built-in struggles to fuel adventures on that world and give GMs a quick and easy hook for pulling in the players.

If paper books aren't your style, grab this PDF now for this exclusive content!

The year is 3200 and mankind's empire lies in ashes.

The Jump Gates fell six hundred years ago, severing the links between the myriad worlds of the human diaspora.

Now, the long isolation of the Silence falls away as men and women return to the skies above their scattered worlds.

Will you be among them?

Stars Without Number is a retro science fiction role playing game influenced by the Old School Renaissance and partially inspired by the great fantasy role-playing game editions written by Tom Moldvay and Frank Mentzer. The contents are compatible with most old school clones and are designed to be easily imported to your own favorite gaming system. In addition to a complete pre-made stellar sector, Stars Without Number offers GMs and players the tools to create their own sandbox-style adventures in the far future.

Classic mechanics adapted for science-fiction adventure in the far future

Extensive GM support for building adventure-crammed sandbox settings more quickly and easily

World building resources for creating system-neutral planets and star sectors

100 adventure seeds and guidelines for integrating them with the worlds you've made

Domain rules for experienced characters who want to set up their own colony, psychic academy, mercenary band, or other institution

While Stars Without Number can be fitted to a wide range of settings, the backdrop provided is a vast canvas of scattered stars awaiting exploration by intrepid spacefarers and bold explorers. Tramp starships flit from world to world, trading the treasures of distant suns as reckless wanderers find adventure beneath alien stars. Elite mercenary bands launch surgical strikes from orbit, grav-tank dropcraft crashing down on the heads of native kings while guerilla fighters plot to draw knives in the dark of two moons. Alien eyes watch human interlopers from the acidic mists of forbidden worlds, their shining, poisonous relics plundered by daring hands. All the classic elements of sci-fi adventure have room to shine in Stars Without Number. Come make them your own!

The reason there's no hardcover option at present is because my source files for the hardcover got corrupted some years ago. As it was my first serious RPG, I was still sadly careless with my file control. In order to make a hardcover, I'd have to remake the source file, and that's very difficult to find the time for in my current work.

There is no difference between any print editions of SWN. Every version, softcover or hardcover, starfield or alien cover, has the full core game text in it.

Ju FSeptember 20, 2016 3:04 am UTC

If I could I would send you a pdf of the core version. I'm not sure if I can over this site. Maybe if you gave me an email or something.
I'd really like to own a hardcover of this book. And if you made one I would definitely buy it.

Luke WFebruary 13, 2016 4:36 am UTC

Where is the hardcover option mentioned in the blurb?

albert RNovember 08, 2015 12:26 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Why is their no hardcover option for this version? I don't get it. This one is supposed to be the enhanced version with the extra 50 pages. The only option for hardcover is for the free version? That doesn't make sense.

Is there any difference between the softcover of this edition and the Hardcover of the Free Edition besides the cover?

Benjamin SAugust 14, 2014 7:06 pm UTC

I've got the free edition and I would love to order the core edition with the alien cover in hardcover. Will it be made available?

Nikolas SJuly 18, 2014 5:55 am UTC

i'm curious what is the deference between this version and the free one?

Benjamin SAugust 14, 2014 7:03 pm UTC

AFAIK one chapter about robots and mechs + one chapter about creating societies in sandbox gaming.

William MJune 22, 2014 9:19 pm UTC

When hardcover edition of Alien cover is available I'll order it...hint...hint...

Michael SFebruary 18, 2014 7:06 pm UTC

Will a hardcover version of this edition of the book be made available?

I'd just buy the hardcover of the star field version, but I want the updated PDF not the free edition PDF.

June 04, 2014 1:56 am UTC

PURCHASER

I would love to see a hardcover version of this.

Samuel KJuly 29, 2014 4:52 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Ditto - I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

Bobby JDecember 05, 2013 6:14 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Just purchased the print/pdf version of this, and the pdf shows the page numbers all left justified. None of the odd numbers fall to the right. Page three should fall to the right, pg four to the left, page five to the right and so forth.
Am I to expect my print copy to be like that? If so, I could have saved the cost of s/h and gotten Kinko's to print for $25 plus a coil binding.

Bobby JDecember 26, 2013 3:42 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Pleased to say that I got my softcover in, and the pagination was exactly as it should be. Thanks!
But, will we be getting an updated pdf with corrected page numbering?

Jonathan PSeptember 17, 2013 2:30 am UTC

PURCHASER

So what exactly is the difference between this version and the Free edition?

Sean Duwane FOctober 04, 2013 12:36 am UTC

Quote
"Rules and historical information on AIs and robots, including AI player characters. Assemble your artificial heroes with a point-buy character creation system and an array of armature hulls for them to use. Included information covers non-sentient guard bots and expert systems as well!

Rules and the historical context for mechs ranging from almost human-sized powered suits to hulking heavy assault mechs to the enigmatic psychic war machines that were the ancient psimechs. Strap in for those special occasions that call for the really big guns. Nine sample mechs are included, along with a design system for creating your own.

Society creation guidelines and generation tables to help GMs flesh out their worlds with vibrant, living cultures and their ages-old conflicts. Every culture comes with built-in struggles to fuel adventures on that world and give GMs a quick and easy hook for pulling in the players." End Quote

Just as it says the above...See more is what is unique to this edition. They are not available anywhere else as separate PDF or in other formats. Free Edition is simple the book minus these extras. Personally I can't see paying $20 to get a measly 40 pages of extras. IMHO that is.

This gem was released in 2011 and was written by Kevin Crawford and Sine Nomine Publishing. SWN is a big book, 254 pages filed with maps, sheets, a great index, but no OGL statement that I kind find.
To me this book feels more like the work of hard sc [...]

I wasn't that interested in OSR products. But I was looking for a game that would scratch my Sci-Fi space itch. Much to my suprise SWN did the job just fine. Suddenly I was hooked on hacking OSR games to make my own adventures. This book is both [...]

I have to make a confession - When stars Without Numbers was first released, it didn't excite me. Not because it wasn't a good system, but because I really wasn't yearning for a good sci-fi game. So I gave it a quick look and it went back to sit on my [...]

Stars Without Number: Core Edition delivers exactly what it promises; an Old School Renaissance retro science-fiction role-playing experience. Players can choose between one of three classes for their character that are essentially a futuristic version [...]

Stars Without Number is perhaps the best old-school inspired sci-fi game I have ever had the joy of reading. The author, Kevin Crawford, clearly knows his stuff, and masterfully conveys the simplicity of old-school mechanics and merges them with the va [...]

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